Prawdopodobna siedziba królów czeskich na rynku we Wrocławiu
The probable seat of Czech kings on the market square in Wrocław

Summary/Abstract: In the 14th century the kings of Bohemia could have probably used not only the castle on the river left bank, but also a burgher house facing the Eastern facade of the town hall. It was demolished in the 20th century. What can prove the identification of the building with the Bohemian kings’ house is a set of sculpted heraldic images deriving from the place, known from drawings, and one preserved element of the decoration, which is a pair of busts.The three shields showed: the emblem of the German Reich held by kneeling angels, situated in the middle, and the emblems of Bohemian Kingdom and the duchy of Wrocław bowing to the central one. They may be referred to Charles IV and Wen-ceslaus IV. The couple of male and female half-figures, leaning out of the window also belonged to the house’s set of sculpted decoration. The royal images of young Wenceslaus IV and his wife Johanna of Bavaria may be considered here. The heraldic context, iconography and some other examples of monumental images of this kind (Mühlhausen; Collegiate Church of Holy Cross, Wrocław) justifies the reasoning. The questions of style and local analogies allow us to date the sculptures at ca. 1375-1385.It may be supposed that the people connected with the circle of royal authority took care of the house in Wrocław. Similar buildings serving royal administrative and representative functions, situated in the city centres at that time, could also be found in Prague, Brno, Świdnica and Cracow.

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